14 Missing in Collision Between Bulker and Philippine Fishing Vessel

The Philippine Coast Guard has launched a search for 14 individuals who went missing after a fishing vessel collided with a bulker off the coast of Mindoro. 

At about 0100 hours Sunday morning, the 150-foot fishing vessel Liberty 5 collided with the Hong Kong-flagged bulker Vienna Wood at a position 15 nm off Mamburao, a community on the west coast of the island of Mindoro. 

According to local coast guard officials, the Liberty 5 was under way on a voyage from Tawi-Tawi to a fishing port near Manila at the time of the collision. The Vienna Wood was under way from Subic to Australia on a ballast voyage. Poor weather conditions are believed to have contributed to the collision between the two vessels. 

After the accident, the Vienna Wood made a distress call. Commodore Armand Balilo of the Philippine Coast Guard told the Inquirer that there was a delay of "a few hours" in between the collision and the notification. 
 
12 fishermen and two passengers from the Liberty 5 are still missing, and search efforts continued on Monday. The Coast Guard patrol boat BRP Boracay is under way and participating in the search, along with a utility aircraft and a SAR helicopter. The Vienna Wood transited to an anchorage in Batangas to await an investigation. 

The 2011-built Vienna Wood is a 55,000 dwt bulker flagged in Hong Kong and operated by a Greek firm. 

Chinese bulker saves Indonesian fishermen

Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Office reported Monday that the crew of the Chinese bulker Guo Yuan 28 saved six survivors from a capsized Indonesian fishing vessel, the KM Sidik. 

According to the agency, the Sidik had departed Natuna for West Kalimantan but took on water and capsized in a storm on Saturday. The Guo Yuan 28 rescued six survivors from the water and recovered one body. Basarnas made arrangements to evacuate the fishermen to Natuna, where the survivors were taken to a hospital for evaluation and treatment.